Tomorrow Will Be Better
by KawaiiEuphoria
Summary: Tomorrow would be better.. Yes, Jean decided, tomorrow would be better.


Hello, everyone! Welcome to a JeanMarco fanfiction made by me! I absolutely adore this pairing, and I was devastated when Marco died- not just because I thought him and Jean made a good couple and would eventually have ended up loving each other, but because he was one of my favourite characters. But I digress; let us move on to the story! To my friends, Deela and Kitty, I hope you appreciate this. Please enjoy, Review, Favourite & check out the rest of my stories, if you would like!

_**~o~**_

Jean Kirschtein had been seriously worried about his friend, Marco Bodt, for a while now. He had suddenly become ill, but kept his argument strong-willed whenever someone would tell him to go rest. Marco was one of the most determined 'students' at this 'camp'; though he wasn't the bravest, yet neither was Jean.

A few days ago, at the Dining Hall, Marco became suddenly silent. Eren Jaeger, who was sitting beside him at the time, turned his head towards the other and had asked if something was wrong. Jean, who was sitting across from the two, continuously kept glancing over at the two conversing. Well, he wouldn't even have been able to call it conversing. Marco simply smiled weakly, and nodded, saying he was fine. Not even a few moments later, he excused himself from the table and exited the Hall rather quickly. Feeling suddenly seriously concerned for his freckled partner, Jean abruptly stood as well and followed after him. As he was leaving to follow the other, he could feel nearly every single pair of eyes that were in the Dining Hall stabbing into his back, but he couldn't have been bothered to give a shit at the time. You know what they say; curiousity killed the cat.

Jean had followed Marco silently throughout the homestead's dimly lit hallways, and had begun to realize that the one that he was following was beginning to stumble a little and trip over his own feet. It looked almost as if he was drunk, or at least tipsy. But Jean knew that Marco wasn't a drinker, so it had to be that he was feeling ill.

Marco pushed open a set of doors that lead to the outside, and released a loud, harsh sounding cough as soon as he stepped foot onto the gravel. He stumbled a little further, but didn't make it very far. Marco collapsed to his knees and began vomiting. Seeing this, Jean's eyes widened a very fair amount, his natural instinct kicking in; he was going to help the poor freckled young man. Jean practically sprinted over to Marco, the disgusting, nauseous noises of his upchucking echoing in his ears. Carefully, he reached the young man and crouched down beside him.

"Marco.." He muttered quietly, though it was loud enough for Marco to hear. Through his heavy, quick breaths, Marco quickly glanced sideways to see his.. _his _Jean, there, beside him. He could slowly begin to feel the sensation of his friend's hand rubbing gentle circles on his clothed back, in which it did comfort him a little. Marco smiled softly, but it was quickly wiped off his lips, for he whipped his head to the other side and vomited once more.

"J-Jean, please.. I.. didn't want y-you to see me.. like.. like this.." He mumbled, his voice hoarse and raw-souding, due to his sickness. Jean had never expected to see Marco like this: so weak, so vulnerable.. He looked so ill.. His chest tightened, and he could slowly tell that his vision was becoming a little blurrier. Jean cleared his throat before he spoke.

"I'm going to go get Corporal Levi, alright? He'll carry you in and-"

"P-Please not him.. He frightens me, and he might make fun.. of my sickness.. Get Erwin or.. Erwin or Eren.."

Underneath his hand, Jean could feel Marco swaying and trembling slightly underneath him. God, did Jean ever want to just snap and make his friend feel as good as new. Poor Marco.. Such a sweet soul cursed with such sickness.

"... I'll get Erwin. Please, don't hurt yourself while I'm gone. I'll be back in a few, I swear, Marco."

Hastily, Jean stood and reluctantly turned away from Marco. He jogged over to the pair of doors that the two had used just a few minutes ago, swung them open, and just as they were closing, Jean heard the sickening noise of his friend retching. Shit, he seriously needed to hurry the fuck up; he couldn't just leave Marco out there by himself for long.

_**~o~**_

As promised, Jean showed Commander Erwin the correct way outside quickly, and he quickly made his way over to Marco, aiding and comforting him as best as he could for this type of situation. Levi hadn't wanted to accompany the Commander, after Jean had explained that his friend was vomiting. Though, Hanji did want to tag along, probably only to fascinate over 'the terrifying beauty that is illness', but Erwin insisted that she stayed there and 'kept Levi company, in case he got lonely'.

"Jean, I'm going to carry him inside. If you could, open those doors for me and show me to his room, please." Erwin instructed him politely as he carefully picked up Marco, his arm under the young man's knees and his other arm supporting his back. Marco was hardly conscious by this point in time. Jean nodded, rushed over to the door, pushed it open wide, and waited until the Commander and Marco were inside. He allowed the door to close by itself as the three entered the building, and without being told again, Jean began to lead Erwin to the Marco's room. All the way there, the sound of Marco's shallow outhaling and hoarse, heavy inhaling was all that could be heard, besides the two pairs of footsteps.

They finally reached Marco's room, and Jean opened up the door, waited for Erwin to enter alongside him, and shut it quietly behind them. His eyes followed Erwin's large frame, and noted that he was carefully setting the young man onto his bed. Jean, without really noticing, made his way over to the two and stood beside the Commander, and over top Marco, who was no longer conscious.

"I'll have to bring Hanji in to inspect him," Commander Erwin explained, in which Jean gazed worriedly up at him. He knew about her odd.. fetishes, if you could call them that, with Titans and how the human body works. He simply smiled reassuringly down at the other. "No worries, it'll be just like a check up. Perhaps a shot, but no dissecting or anything like that." Jean sighed a little in relief, glad to hear that Marco wouldn't be split open like a science project.

"Thank you very much, Commander Erwin." Jean thanked him, offering a small smile up at him. Erwin nodded a little at him, before beginning to take his leave without another word. Just as he was opening the door to exit, he glanced back at Jean.

"After Hanji comes in and inspects him, you wouldn't mind staying overnight with him, would you?" Erwin asked, his gaze landing on him. Before answering, Jean lowered his gaze to Marco's seriously pale and clammy-looking features. He didn't have any doubt in mind for what his answer would be.

"Of course. I'll do my best to comfort him, sir."

"Good. Hanji will be in in a few minutes. I'll see you tomorrow then, Kirschtein." Erwin replied, nodding towards the young man before exiting and closing the door behind him.

Jean simply stood for a few moments more before carefully seating himself on the edge of Marco's bed, beside the young man in question. Giving a soft, yet concerned smile to the unconcious freckled teen, he raised his hand and gently stroked his cool cheek with his thumb.

"You'll get better, Marco. Hanji's going to take care of you, and I'll stay with you during the night." He muttered, feeling his chest begin to squeeze again. Wanting to avoid tears, his simply chuckled lightly. "Idiot.. You need to take it easy if you're feeling sick.."

Gazing down thoughtfully at the pale, freckled teen for moments on end, Jean began to lean down. Gently as he could, he pressed his warm, chapped lips to Marco's clammy forehead and remained in that position until his neck had begun to hurt.

Moments later, a knock was heard on the door. Jean quickly removed his hand from Marco's cheek.

"Come in," Jean answered tentatively, watching as the door opened to reveal Hanji. She looked as though she had to contain her excitement as she closed the door behind her and made her way over to the two.

"What's wrong with the boy? Erwin barely told me anything." Hanji said, leaning over to take a better look at the unconcious young man.

Jean explained to her what had happened that night, what he had saw, what Marco had told him, and every other detail, up until Commander Erwin leaving to find her. She simply nodded along with what he was telling her, and once he was finished, Hanji moved her gaze from Marco to Jean, himself.

"Don't worry, Jean. He's going to be fine. I'll just need to do a little check-up on him, then I'll leave you two for the night."

"Right.."

_**~o~**_

Hanji had finished sooner than Jean had expected her to. All she did was feel around his stomach and chest area, around his neck- that sort of thing. She stood alongside Jean a few moments later, after inspecting Marco. God, he _really _did not like using the word 'inspecting'; to him, it felt like.. it felt like he was suggesting that his friend was some damn expirement. That was the last thing that Jean wanted.

"Alright! It looks like he just, ah, has a.. serious flu, of some sort. I can't really tell just by feeling around, but from the symptoms that you told me about, it just sounds like a flu. Sorry I couldn't really narrow it down to anything excpet that," The woman smiled a bit, raising her hand to adjust her glasses on her nose.

"T-That's fine. Thanks a lot, Hanji. I just wanted to know that he's not..." Jean paused, glancing down at Marco. ".. not dying."

"Well, all we can do is just hope for the best, Jean.. Just look after him during the night, a little bit in the morning, perhaps help him with dressing himself if he's having trouble- just be there for him. We all know that Marco's.. 'special' to you, and we wouldn't want a perfectly good recruit to go to waste, right?" Jean's eyes narrowed a tiny bit when Hanji said that last bit, but he knew that she didn't mean any harm by it. He straightened himself from his original, somewhat slouched stance, and saluted, placing his right fist over top his heart and resting his left fist on the small of his back.

"I will take care of him; I promise." Jean announced to her, though in a somewhat quiet voice. He didn't want to disturb Marco from his unconciousness- if that was even possible at this point. Hanji nodded, a bit bigger smile sliding onto her lips.

"Very well, then. I'll leave you two for the night, and I'll make sure that no one enters this room for the time being."

"Understood," Jean replied, unclenching his fists and allowing his hands to fall back to his sides. "Thank you again, Hanji. It, uh, means a lot to me. But it probably means a lot more to Marco."

"Don't worry about it! You get some rest and make sure Marco's fine for the night!" She spoke as she turned on her heel, leaving the room without any last words.

Then, it was only Jean and Marco left. He slowly lowered his gaze, and stopped once his eyes locked onto his freckled partner, laying on the bed, his legs and arms somewhat splayed over the covers. The bottom of his shirt was raised up slightly, from Hanji feeling up his stomach- checking for signs of.. signs of something other than just a flu. Marco's dark brown hair was tousled, due to the rough night he had been having. The ankles of his white-ish grey slacks were raised to, about, his mid-calf, upper ankle.

Jean felt awkward, to say the least.

He had a small (oh, it was _anything _but small) crush on the freckled teen. It had been a tough choice to choose between Mikasa Ackerman, the girl with that lucious, nearly black hair; the girl with the skills of killing Titans that could be compared to Lance Corporal Levi's, and Marco Bodt, his best friend. But Marco.. something about him just _lured _Jean in. His cute freckles that were plastered over his cheeks that faded a little as they trailed down his neck and around his collarbone. The way how he was so.. so brave. Not in an idiotic brave way, such as Eren Jaeger, but the words he spoke.. It made Jean feel so special when Marco spoke to him, saying that he's not that good of a fighter, but has the courage and perseverance of a true warrior.

Feeling his gaze soften upon the teen under him, Jean decided it was time to get himself comfortable, himself. He sighed quietly before as he raised his hands to the collar of his button-up, long-sleeved shirt and unbuttoned it halfway. Jean made his way over to the the single candle that kept this room from being enveloped in the dark, blew out the flame, and cautiously walked back to the bed. He manuevered himself onto the bed, beside Marco, and yanked the sheets over top of them both. Through the dark, Jean could still make out the shape of the other's pale face, and was glad to hear that he was still continuing to breathe.

After debating with himself for about a minute or two, Jean finally decided to silently move a little closer to Marco, who was still laying on his back, and gently draped his arm over his friend's mid-drift.

Moments later, Marco began to stir. Feeling this, Jean immediately removed his arm from his waist in a hurry, suddenly glad that they were in the dark so that the freckled teen couldn't see his noticable blush.

".. J.. Jean..?" Marco mumbled hoarsely, as he begun to awake. Jean remained stiff as a log as the freckled teen turned his head towards him. ".. Are you there..?"

"Y-Yeah, Marco. I'm here," He answered, accidently stuttering a bit, which he cursed at himself inwardly for doing afterwards. Not expecting the teen to do this at all, Marco slowly, carefully turned on his side to face Jean, reached forwards under the blanket and weakly grasped his button-up shirt.

"Good.. I thought you had left.. me.." It nearly sounded like he was still half-unconcious; his voice was so soft yet ragged and breaths were coming out in small huffs. Honestly, even though knowing that his illness was probably a simple flu, it frightened Jean seeing Marco in a such a pathetic, weak state. It almost made him angry. But he could never be angry at him.

"I wouldn't leave you when you're like this, dummy.." Jean began to relax a little as he spoke. He felt the sensation of a gentle smile slide over his lips and he returned his arm to it's previous position: upon Marco's waist.

"Jean, I.. I-I'm not dying, right?" Marco practically whispered, his voice slowly fading as he spoke more.

God- fucking shit..!

Jean felt his eyes begin to water.

"O-Of course you're not dying. You're the only person I have, s.. so you're not allowed to leave, you hear me?" His voice cracked as he spoke, fighting the urge to start crying right then and there. Marco smiled a little, hearing Jean's voice began to crackle. He released his friend's shirt from his light grip and trailed his hand up to his cheek.

"Jean.. Are you crying?" Marco said, his voice cracking a bit, as well, his vocal chords struggling to continue any more. Jean sniffled quietly before replying.

".. I'm not.." Even through the near pitch black room, Jean could still, but barely, make out Marco's pale facial features. His eyes were half-lidded and he had a tiny smile on his lips. It took Marco at least a minute to reply; his head was spinning, his body ached like hell, he felt nauseous, but he had to act like he fine- just for Jean. Just for him. "M.. Marco..?"

"Jean.. Before I.. Before I pass out.. You have to know th.. that I.. I love you, Jean.." Marco barely made out, slowly feeling his eyes close. His breathing began to get a little softer, though he could feel his heart rate begin to quicken. He couldn't help it anymore. Jean allowed for himself to cry, tears slipping down his cheeks from the corners of his eyes.

"S-Shut up.. Don't say such a thing; you sound like you're dying.." He answered, feeling his body begin to tremble and his bottom lip begin to quiver.

"... I'm not dying.. You said it.. your.. self.. Do you love me ba.. back, Jean..?"

".. Y.. Yeah.. Yeah, I love you, Marco.."

Marco's light smile widened a small bit and he slowly released Jean's cheek from his very light grasp.

"... Goodnight.." He answered, his voice hardly there, by this point. Jean sniffled once more, feeling the all-too-familiar feeling of dried tears upon his cheeks. Marco was exhausted- that's all.. That's why he sounds so tired..

"G.. Goodnight, Marco.."

Although he bid Marco goodnight, he couldn't fall asleep for at least another hour, and when he did eventually drift off, it was a very light sleep and it was freezing cold in his dream. It terrified him, even in his sleeping state. Tomorrow would be better.. Yes, Jean decided, tomorrow would be better.

_**~o~**_

"Salute!" Commander Erwin ordered as he placed his right fist over top of his heart and placing his left fist upon his lower back. The rest of the attending members obeyed without a word, mimicking his actions.

"Today, we mourn for the loss of one of our own: Marco Bodt. A loyal Trainee of the 104th Trainee Squad, Marco Bodt, deceased at the age of Sixteen, passed away last night due to _Karoushi_: an illness caused by stress. Though his passing was sudden, his dedicated attitude towards our goal will never be forgotten. I will now call down the line and each one of you will utter your last words to the deceased. Eren Jaeger."

Eren took a slow step forwards and bowed his head, squeezing his fists tightly to keep himself from tearing up.

"Y.. You were a great team member and you were o.. one of the many people that I favour here. I thank you for your support, Marco Bodt, and I hope to m-meet you once again, some day."

He took a step back in silence.

Commander Erwin called down the line, each person said their vows to Marco, and then, eventually, it had come to Jean.

"Jean Kirschtein."

Hesitantly, he took a step forwards. Instead of bowing his head in sorrow like many of the others had did, he raised his head up high and gazed upwards.

"Marco, you were my closest friend by far at this place.. It's been total fucking chaos and hell out there since Day One, but we had no choice in saying how anything went. You were brave out there when we fought- braver than I was. You made me realize the truth about myself: how I'm not as strong as I think I am, yet you said I was a good leader.. Idiot.. I'm no leader, I'm just here to keep myself alive. My initial goal was to take down every one of those disgusting fucking monsters, to avenge the innocent ones who died, but as I got to know you and everyone else better, my views changed and all I wanted to do was protect the ones I grew to know and love; that included you, Marco. I.. I hope it wasn't too obvious that my feelings for you were more than a friend should feel for another. I apologize for any harsh things I may have said to you in the past, but now, as we said to each other last night, I love you and goodnight."

_**~o~**_

Oh, uh.. Hah.. Wow. That was, ah.. Different than what I initially planned. But I hoped you guys enjoyed, anyways! Please leave a Review and Favourite to help me out, and I'll see you all next time!


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